restricting access to safe abortions? >> fault lines... al jazeera america's hard hitting... ground breaking... truth seeking... breakthrough investigative documentary series access restricted only on al jazeera america it's friday afternoon ain te rio grande valley in texas. >> abortion is one of the most common medical procedures for women around the world. >> two friends are meeti reading a manual about how to give yourself an abortion? are. >> yeah. >> you said you are -- >> for sure right now, i am seven weeks. >> okay. yeah. that's good because once you get to 12 weeks, it gets riskier >> they wouldn't let us film their faces because here, like in most states, what they are

illegal. >> ultimately, the number 1 thing has to be your choice and you need to be sure that you want it. >> i am sure. >> to end her pregnancy, 23-year-old melissa is going to take a drug called misoprostal, normally used to treat you willers? >> put them under your tongue because they are more effective that way. >> it will cause a miscarriage? >> it does say on the box not to use while pregnant >> yeah. >> by the time she is done, melissa will have swallowed 12 pills. >> all right. when could we do this? really. >> okay. >> the rate of attempted self-in deuced abortions in texas is believed to be one of the highest in the united states. >> you are going to take four your first dose is four >> "fault lines" is here to find out why. >> okay. >> and then keep checking the time. thirty minutes. >>

uh-huh. whole woman's health in mechanicalen, a city in the lower rio grandee valley on the southernmost tip of texas, a few months ago, she could have come to this clinic for a legal abortion but it's been practically shut down and isn't allowed to provide abortions anymore. last november, a law went into effect that made it harder for doctors to perform abortions. under the new legislation, doctors need an official affiliation with a hospital within 30 miles of their clinic. but in this conservative region, none of the hospitals are willing to do that. [ music ]

>> it's just one of a number of laws that have swept texas and other states which have made abortion more difficult to obtain. the supreme court made abortion a constitutional right in 1973 in a landmark case called roe versus wade which began in texas. >> in the last two years, there have been more restrictions passed against reproductive justice than there were in the 30 years prior to that. we have really beared a lot of brunt of it here in texas. >> even though they have won, antiabortion activists continue to protest in front of whole women's health. marching from church on a saturday morning, despite the cold and rain. >> we pray for the least among us, the children in the womb. protect them from the violence of abortion. we pray for those who are scheduled to die today. save them from death. >> helping a person to end the life of their child is not

helping a person. we are here to ask the lord to give. everyone who is considering an abortion hope >> do you think women have a right to choose? >> no, because they made a choice. now, take the con sequences. >> that's what they have the right to choose, to say "yes" or "no." if you say yes, then suffer the con sequences as they think. it's not a consequence to us, but they think it's a consequence, a product. they don't have -- not to kill because nobody has the right to kill. >> santa maria... >> there is still a stigma texas whether it's because beliefs. it's unusual for people to talk about it freely here >> i am not ready to be a mother. if i were to have a baby, i am going to do it right and i want to have all of the resources that i can. basically, i am very poor. >> did you ever think you would be -- it would be so difficult to get an abortion in the u.s.?

>> no. i thought it would be much simpler. texas is huge. you know, three or four or five collinics here is going to be many hours' drive for a lot of people. and i either have texas at my disposal or mexico because i am on the border. there is nothing really -- there is nothing closer or in between. >> it's just a half hour's drive for melissa to get to mexico where she bought the mysoprostel. we wanted to see what her journey looked like. so we headed there with the local activist. >> how far is the border? >> 15 or 20 minutes away. >> it? >> yeah. >> really close? >> are there several groups you work with down here? >> no. there are no groups. people do things like individually, but there is no, like, organized movement hard. >> yeah. it is since you want to do stuff and like last year, there was a lot of momentum, and then it

kind of just, you know, died off. the horrible thing happened. >> within 20 minutes, we crossed into nuevo progresso, a small border town pharmacies? >> this is a big business here. here? >> yeah. >> to buy cheap drugs? really, it'sedes to get it, it was just $31. >> okay. do you have mysoproxal? yeah. how much is it? >> 187. >> $187? you don't have a cheaper kind? >> yeah. >> i don't need the brand name. i cannot believe how easy it is to get mysoprostal here he charged $45. as soon as i said it, he knew what i was talking about and gave it to me >> women who bring it back to the u.s. for self abortions

could face possible charges >> it is a legal drug to have. people use it for ulcers. if they know you are using it for an abortion, that's a different story. it is illegal >> what about undocumented women? what can they do? >> they are kind of trapped because they can't go to mexico papers. >> the rio grande valley has a large population of undocumented immigrants. with no abortion collinics left here, undocumented women have virtually no options? >> there are a few flea markets around here this is the biggest one. we heard they could find it at this flea market outside of mechanicalen. people come here to buy cheap beauty product, used cars and medication did being sold on the black market. >> we wanted to go into the flea market, but they wouldn't let us in with the camera. we will try to go any to another entrance and use just our cell phones to film what happens there.

>> so they sell everything here? >> oh, yeah. gosh. >> yeah. people pay crazy prices in desperation. there is one woman who had -- i think she brought $600 and they weren't real >> mysoprostal? >> what? >>ysoprostal? >> no. >> it's for like if you want to get your period back. >> i don't sell it. >> they don't? >> they don't prescribe it. took it months ago. >> used to be sold here? yeah. >> used to be. >> when did they stop? >> i don't know. >> yeah. >> i wouldn't sell it t i know there is like another stand over there they used to sell it. >> yeah. looks like there is a real alert on for mysoprostal. they are not 14r0ud to sell it. i think everyone seems to be aware you need a prescription for it. it seems to be a real crackdown on folks who do sell it. soo no one here wants to talk about it.

they all say they just don't have it. >> traveling north to san antonio and other cities which do have abortion collini -- clinics is not an option for undo you think women. they have to cross through internal checkpoints on the way where homeland security agent did would ask to see their id. but for women who do have access to mysoprostal, self inducing an abortion carries its own risks like being far away from a wrong. >> researchers say self-in deuced intoringz will become more common here as access to clinics more common here as access to clinics. >> melissa should have taken all of her pills by now. i am going to see how she is doing. >> hey. how are you feeling? walk me through what happened last night. >> even before i swallowed the

pills, while they were still under my tongue, i feel the cramps starting again, and i it never stopped but they were getting more intense. i even said, ooh, ooh, ooh, like along with how quickly it felt like it was contracting >> those were the longest three hours of my life, it felt like, after the second dose. the pain was super deep. it was really long and my uterus just felt so 250i9. i tried taking medication for nausea and ended up throwing that up. i just kept on throwing up until up. >> when did the pain stop? >> the intention pain probably stopped around, like, 6:00 in the morning or so. almost 12 hours. >> yeah. it was a long time. >> what would you say to the politicians who are restricting access to surgical abortions? >> i would almost say, try it. i don't know if they are aware that this is what i have to go

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. this is where it all began, the texas capitol building where last summer, politicians passed one of the most restrictive abortion laws the state has ever seen. democratic state senator wendy davis tried to block the bill to a filibuster, speaking for 11 hours straight? >> members, i am rising on the floor today to humbly give voice to thousands of texans who have been ignored. >> after loud interruptions by protesters, the deadline passed without a vote. >> senate bill 5 cannot be signed in the presence of the senate at this time and, therefore, cannot be... >> it meant she couldn't sit down, lien on the podium, eat, drink, or go to the bathroom for the entire time. for her efforts, davis won

supporters from around the country, including powerful democrats who convinced her to run in this year's governor's race. but the victory was short-lived >> in signing house bill 2 today, celebrate and further cement the foundation on which the culture of life in texas is built upon. >> republican governor rick perry called a second special session in july and this time, the bill passed. he signed it into law that no. >> no one will ever have to ask you: where were you when the babies lives were being saved >> house bill 2 is the bill that finally, passed this summer. as you know, there was back and forth and back and forth. it was a multi-had a multi-layered effect on us. it's brilliant strategy on their part both because it has the admitting privileges piece for physicians but then it also has the ambulatory surgical center requirement. those two things combined

creates a perfect storm for the vast majority of us to be able to even remain open. >> that's because the bill, known as hb 2 requires abortion clinics to meet the same standards as hospital-style surgical centers. it also bans abortion at 20 weeks among other restrictions. >> i am going to meet one of the most prominent antiabortion lawmakers. he was one of the main co sponsors of house bill 2. >> this is a mail piece texas right to life did for us in one of our campaigns, which we are very thankful for. >> is this why you got into politics because of your views on abortion? >> that's my primary motivation for getting into politics. it really is >> human life doesn't get any more innocent than a little baby in the womb. so, a a christian, we recognize the old testament and the new testament as god's word. there are versus in psalms that we look at that talks about the lord forming us in our mother's womb and all through the scriptures, it's pretty clear

that god is the author of life. take. >> do you feel like you have won? >> if we are building a culture of life, if more mothers are choosing life, if more people are coming alongside those mothers and meeting their physical needs, we are winning. if that's happening, we are winning. >> reporter: by september, when the rest of the law's provisions are expected to ingo into effec texas will have gone from 40 abortion clinics last year to just six. this in a state of 26 million people that can take 12 hours to drive across. this clinic in austin will have to shut down in a few months. >> hi. i am anjolee >> it can't afford to make the renovations to meet the same standards as an ambulatory certainly cal center or asc. >> explain again why it's going

to be shut down because this isn't wide enough? >> yeah. because right now, the walls we have are about three-feet wide and to be an asc, it has to be 8-feet w50id. the wiring and ventilation has to be different. room temperatures have to be different to be different. different. it's changes like that and expensive >> the bill supporters insist the new restrictions are necessary to keep women safe. but abortion providers told us the procedure is a quick and safe one, especially in the first trimester and that complications are rare. >> the real wave of successful opposition and difficulty for us has been through the regulatory system. one, they pass laws and get laws, you know, into effect. but then, two, they are actually utilizing that system to hai us. >> when we came here on a busy tuesday morning, we saw dozens of women walk through the clinic's doors. >> there are teenagers, college students, mothers and people who thought they were done being able to get pregnant who are

over 45. the waiting room is mixed of all different kinds of people >> most of them wouldn't talk to us even off camera. the ones who did told us they closing. it's like easier to get breast implant did than it is to get an abortion in texas, which is ridiculous, so frustrating and it feels so -- makes you feel like you are not an equal citizen just because you are a woman and just because like something, a mistake happened. you could not' be held accountable for it and die for trying to fix it. and we are -- don't have a proper separation of church and state. and because of that, lawmakers are going to do whatever it takes to get people to keep them in. >> is it a difficult decision for you? >> yes. lives. it's very difficult >> crystal had to drive three hours to get here because her

hometown has no abortion clinic. >> and the hardest part is being alone, you know. i don't have anybody that, you know, would come with me or go with me because they are their opinions are very strong, and they don't agree with my decision. so, i have to do it alone >> do you know that this clinic september? >> no. i didn't know that. >> what will you do if you are in this situation again? >> for me, if it happened, i would drive to wherever i would need to go. >> means in state, out of state. it really doesn't matter to me. >> i mean, we are truly in survival mode and trying to fight things instead of really getting out in front strategically and looking at, you know, asking bigger questions like whose benefitting from restricting access to save abortions for women? who benefits from these kinds of -- from the passing of these laws and what is their ultimate objective? what is their strategy? what are they trying to do? >> i don't want to clean up the

abortion industry. i want to close it. because i can't close it, i want them to meet the high standards any other surgical procedure would be wuz if they are maiming and killing women in substandard >> our current system has gone very far awry... >> there's huge pressure on the police to arrest and find somebody guilty >> i think the system is going to fail a lot of other people. >> you convicted the wrong person >> i find that extraordinarily disappointing... >> to keep me from going to jail, i needed to cooperate. >> the evidence was inaccurate >> they still refuse the dna >> somebody can push you in a death chamber >> it's not a joke >> award winning producer and director joe berlinger exposes the truth. from the inside... >> a justice system rum by human beings, can run off the rails. >> some say there's justice for all, but they're not in the system.. >> it shouldn't be easy to just lock somebody up and throw away

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majority of conservatives in texas. we don't expect that to last, but we are excited about it and we have made great strides in the last five years in texas. >> she used to own a chain of abortion clinics but left the business. one day, a man walked into one of her clinics and asked her to pray with him. dear god, i am a sinner. please forgive me for my sins. thank you for sending your son to die for my sins. make me a worker in your vineyard. amen. i had an abortion. it destroyed my life. i was in the abortion industry for six years. i was responsible for 35,000 abortions. they don't care about women. they care about money. >> hello. dr.

mentdal in? how much money? >> old tennis shoes, blue jeans, 8-year-old car. not a heck of a lot of money >> dr. lester mento is the last abortion doctor left in the rio grande valley >> this is the sono room. it's where we do sonograms, check everybody >> the suction machines? >> the machines are here so that the girls don't have to listen to the noise. every week, he makes the 5-hour clinic. >> and where is the room where here? >> right back here. but this is kind of -- there is nothing vulgar. it's just like a jail cell, man. >> kind of small. this is where you stay two or three nights a week? >> two or three nights a week. >> you said you sleep with a gun on you? >> i lay it there beside me. >> can you show me? this is what you use? >> this is what i don't want to ever use it.

i know how to use it and always carry it. >> for >> yes. >> these demonstrators call me murderers, everything that thing. they followed my kids around and yelled at my children when they were little, these good christians. they don't have the courage to stand up to me but they would follow my kids around and say things to them in stores, things like, you know, your dad is a murderer, and terrible things. they would come home crying and ask me about it. >> it's illegal for doctor mento to perform abortions here but he can do is to carry out, what he said, miscarriage management. >> means he sees women who have tried to self-in deuce an abortion and have only been partially successful. >> you take care, okay? we will do a sonogram and as certain there is not a viable fetus and then i can legally clean out at a time young lady's uterus and remove any debris or any tissue that's left in there.

>> stephanie, a mother of three young children, came to the clinic for miscarriage management. she had been pregnant with twins. >> what was the hardest thing about it? >> having to do this. and many women just have kids and don't take care of them, and it's not fair to the kids and kids die every day from different situations, someone not caring for them. >> it doesn't seem like it was an easy decision for you? >> i am not doing it just to kill a child. it's not even -- it's to protect the ones i have now. if they are going to take the only abortion clinic we have here, it will make it way harder on the women, way harder >> to see a 10-year-old girl that's pregnant, tell me that's what god wants. see a 58-year-old woman that' pregnant, tell me that's what god wants. what are those girls going to do?

none of these laws decrease the need for abortions. they only make it harder for girls to get them. let's do something to decrease the demand. i am against abortions, too. >> a few weeks after we left texas, we heard that dr. mentos' clinic had to shut down. >> so row v. wade started here, came out of here and destroyed we don't know. we believe well over 60 million lives, but the end started here the end of abortion started here in the summer of 2013. >> drug wars in mexico >> this guy saw someone they suspect and they just went after them >> now vigilantes have joined the fight >> i don't want to do this... >> is it a popular uprising? or a new wave of violence?

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